SHADOW OF DEATH

Chapter 28: Truth

Jane entered the lab and took off her raincoat. She wiped the trickles of rain water off her brow and smoothed the damp hair of her ponytail. Then she spun in a circle, arms outstretched, silly grin on her face. She tripped on a pile of mechanical detritus that lay on the floor near Shuri and caught herself on Shuri's arm before she stumbled into the lab table in front of her. She kicked at a metal tube with her foot and it spun across the room in a clamor. Jane met Shuri's eyes and broke into a smile again.

"Happy to be back in the lab?" Shuri asked. She bent to pick up the failed circuit board before anyone else could trip over it or kick it.

"Ecstatic," Jane replied and her hazel eyes glistened with her happiness. She placed a heavy knapsack onto a multi-colored counter with a loud thump and turned to take in the room again. "If Dr. Okapi threatened to keep me in that hospital room one more day, I might have spontaneously combusted."

"I would not be surprised if you actually could," Shuri replied with one eye brow raised. "Do you want to see the progress I've made?"

"Of course!" Jane said. She pulled out her notebooks from her knapsack and drug a metal stool loudly over the tile floor to sit beside the princess.

A few hours later, they were interrupted by the stealthy entrance of an Asgardian prince. While Shuri gave a light jump, Jane only smirked.

"You are gonna have to try harder than that," Jane said without looking up from her work. "I can hear you approach from a floor away now."

"A worthy challenge, Lady Jane. Would you care to place a wager on it?" he replied as he pulled up a third stool to the gleaming steel counter.

"Absolutely not. Shuri, don't you dare," Jane hissed over her shoulder. Shuri cocked her head to one side and covered her dimples with her free hand.

"What have the most brilliant minds of Midgard discovered today?" Loki asked.

"Do not ask that," Shuri said as her smile turned into a scowl. "Or you will put Jane back into a temper. She nearly broke my counter an hour ago."

"My, my-turning violent, are we?" Loki asked, bemused. Jane flushed and dropped her eyes to where Loki now noticed a dent in the metal face of the counter.

"I didn't mean to. I'm still not used to all this…," Jane said, trailing off and using her hands to motion to her body with a sigh.

"Please explain-what did the counter do to raise such ire?" Loki asked. Jane flushed and refused to answer so Shuri volunteered for her.

"It was the unfortunate bystander when Jane realized her previous calculations on the bifrost will not work," Shuri said. "Her superpowered brain informed her that she needs to start over again and her superpowered fist then responded by nearly putting a hole through solid steel."

Jane gave a huff and crossed her arms across her chest. "I've spent months on this and it's all wrong. I don't know how to fix it. I can just tell it isn't right and I have to start over again. I think I may have preferred ignorance….ugh! I can't even pretend to myself without my insides feeling itchy. I don't actually prefer ignorance. That's not how I'm wired…I'm just really frustrated."

"I have told her again and again that it is better to not waste her efforts on something she knows will not work but she is too too stubborn," Shuri said. Jane flinched away when Shuri tried to place a hand on her shoulder.

"I broke my bathroom door this morning and tore through two pairs of jeans when I tried to get dressed," Jane said. She hunched her shoulders with her confession and grew somber. "I had to wake up three times in the night to go find more food and I can feel the presence of every person in this lab as if with my very bones. Then when I try to talk to people, it's like I can feel inside them. I can feel their perceptions of truth and how it matches up with reality. It paints everything around me in such complicated, multivalent colors and layers.

"It's just-I don't know what to do with all that. I had hoped that being in the lab would help me feel a little more, you know, normal. A little more like myself. But even here it's all different. I can't just go back to how things were." Jane sighed again and leaned against the counter, her hands supporting her weight. She stared past her audience to the door behind them, lost in her own thoughts, carrying a burden previously unknown by her small shoulders.

"What kind of life will I have now?" she continued, her voice dropping into nearly a whisper. "I had a pretty set path before and it may have been unconventional and pretty mundane, but it was mine and I liked it. Do research, possibly get a teaching position at a university, or simply get enough grants to keep me doing research forever. It may not sound exciting, but I loved it. Now the doctors don't know if I will even age and I can lift a rhinoceros with one hand. I feel like my whole life and sense of identity has been thrown into a blender and I don't know what to do with it."

"I would pay you to lift a rhinoceros for a second time just to see the expression on W'Kabi's face again," Shuri said with a grin. She tilted her head to the side and caused her rows of short sienna and ochre twists to dance around her face as she did.

"Not helping, Shuri," Jane said, fighting against the twist of a smile at the corner of her mouth.

Shuri shrugged and tapped her fingers on the metal counter.

"Say it, Shuri. Don't hold back."

Shuri shook her head slightly. "Do you think you are the only cheetah to have spots? Jane, how many people in New York or Paris or Beijing are feeling like their lives and sense of identity have been turned upside down?"

"Great. Thanks, Shuri. Way to make me feel like a jerk," Jane replied in a voice dripping with sarcasm.

"You told me to speak, daktari! Now, close your mouth so I may speak," Shuri said. "You are still alive! You have received a gift. Ni kweli, the gift may have a cost, but it is still a gift. I know, I know, you must walk this path and bury the old Jane in barkcloth before you can move on as the new Jane. And maybe I am too too selfish, but I am too happy that you are still alive to worry about all the rest."

Jane closed her eyes with a visible effort and pursed her lips. Her pale yellow blouse warred with the vibrant reds, blues, yellows, and oranges of the colorful decorative panels behind the counter, as if she were the lone female weaver bird flanked by scarlet macaws.

"Lady Jane," Loki began as he walked closer to where she stood. "All my life I believed myself of Asgard, of the House of Odin, blood kin to the royal family. Then one day I discovered it all a lie. I was born not to the golden spires of the Realm Eternal but on the barren ice of Jotunheim…," and Loki paused a moment too long because Jane's eyes flew open with a cobalt glow and she interrupted him before he could continue.

"No. You weren't," she replied. "I don't even know what Jotunheim is, but I do know you were not born there."

Loki spluttered and he pulled himself taller in a flash of anger. "How dare you question me? What do you know of it?"

"I dunno, Loki. Really. It's one of those things that's different now. I can tell that you believe that statement to be true, but I can also tell that it doesn't actually correspond with reality," Jane responded with a tone of resignation. She dropped her eyes to stare at the dented metal of the counter and ran her fingers over the twisted shape.

"Then, Lady Jane, if you claim to be privy to such information, where, pray tell, was I born?"

"How am I supposed to know that?" she said. She met his eyes this time and stood tall in her own irritation. "I can't read minds or tell futures or something. It's not like I'm a Magic 8 ball."

"Pardon?"

"A Magic 8 ball-oh, yeah. Ok, it's a children's toy. It has a bunch of answers inside of it that it randomly pulls up when you turn it over. So, you ask it a question and then look at it to tell you the answer."

"A tool for divination?" he responded, anger now replaced with thoughtfulness.

"I guess? I don't know. I'm a scientist. I don't believe in divination or all that superstitious stuff."

Shuri failed to restrain her chuckle. She motioned towards Loki. "So the scientist says to the Norse God of Chaos who happens to be adept with magic."

Jane rolled her eyes which only encouraged Shuri's mirth. Loki ignored them both and pulled a stool up beside Jane, his hands crossed on his legs and his green cape pooling down his back behind him.

"I wonder if it would work the same way?" he asked more to himself than to either of his companions. He addressed Jane again with a half-smile. "Jane, do I eat rabbit?"

"I don't know. Do you? I don't think I've ever eaten a rabbit. It seems kinda wrong since, you know, they are all cute and fluffy and all."

Loki threw up his arms in exasperation. "You are missing my point. Jane, I hate wearing green."

"You sure wear it a lot for not liking it."

"You are supposed to tell me if that statement is true or false," he replied.

"Oh, I see. Magic 8 ball. Fine," she said and stared at him for a moment. "That statement is both true and false simultaneously."

He gave a self-satisfied smirk. "That was intended to be an easy 'false'. Your gift is faulty."

"Is it?"

"Of course. I was raised a Prince of Asgard. My color represents my station, my house, my status. It's a symbol of who I am and the roles I play."

"And you both hate and love who you are and the roles you have to play," she said. "Therefore, you both love and hate wearing green."

He sat dumbfounded before he abruptly rose from the stool and turned to leave. "I do not wish to discuss anything further today," he called over his shoulder, failing to turn his head to meet their eyes.

Ooooooooooooooooooooooo

It took five days before Loki ventured back into the lab, or anywhere near Jane Foster, again. He told himself it was due to his long neglected duties to the other Midgardian polities. With the disruption of the mindspell that accompanied the destruction of the scepter, he no longer could be assured of the single-minded loyalty of his minions. It would take time to truly assess the extent of the damage, his five days of travel gave a slight litmus test of where he would need to spend more time in future.

As suspected, Alexander Pierce, once free of the mindspell, poured out his secrets like wine from a broken cask and it would take an extended time to clean up the damage. Twenty operatives mysteriously vanished from Moldova, Bolivia, and Nepal. Another fifty or so he would need to replace as soon as possible.

The Kree transponder, however, proved effective. His contact reached, the request made, now he would have to wait and hope his contact proved both trustworthy and well-connected (despite the niggling sense that his contact might only prove to be one or the other).

Loki returned to Birnin Zana with a flurry of plots swirling through his brain, distracting him from the light footfalls of the flerkin that kept pace behind him as he walked. He rubbed his temples with his hands, his mind somewhere in between Alfheim and São Paulo, when realized he had another scheme to check on.

He made his way straight to the office of Dr. Okapi to inquire as to the progress of his pet soldier. The middle-aged doctor sat in front of a screen, speaking rapidly in French to someone projected on the other side. Dr. Okapi silently motioned for him to take a chair. He continued to speak at some length on the latest experimental treatments of cerebral malaria before scheduling another meeting for the same time the following month.

As the projection vanished, Dr. Okapi turned to Loki, his peppered beard resting against his hands.

"Prince Loki," he said and nodded slightly.

"Dr. Okapi," Loki replied with a half-smile. "How is he?"

"Nearly conscious, but not quite coherent," Dr. Okapi replied. "Come."

Loki followed the doctor into the lab that housed the Winter Soldier. Now released from the cryogenic freeze, he lay with his eyes closed on a slightly elevated bed strung between a series of wires and tubes protruded from all parts of him. A steady rise and fall of his chest, assisted by a tube through his throat, proved the only movement. The dark hair on his chin and his head fell longer over his shoulders now than the last he had seen.

"As you can see, we have reprogrammed nearly all of his neural pathways. Maybe another week or so, we will be complete. Already he has woken up and we have been forced to sedate him so he cannot remove the IVs again," Dr. Okapi said.

"I wish to be present when he wakes," Loki said in a tone he hoped would dispel any arguments. The doctor only nodded.

ooooooooooooooooo

A few hours later, Loki wandered through the palace and decided to peruse the royal archives for any records of past dealings with Asgard. The library of the palace of Birnin Zana had an extensive collection of recorded oral records as well as literature, art, and rare manuscripts from around Midgard that spanned millennia. The vaulted ceiling of the room was painted with a kaleidoscope of geometric shapes and colors and the tall, triangular windows painted patterns of light across the tiled floor.

When Loki entered, he found the library empty save for one Jane Foster curled up on a window seat with a book and a cup of coffee in her hand. Her eyes were closed and she leaned back against the window, in a pose of perfect repose. He stood in the doorway just to watch her for a moment.

She looked so peaceful, serene, unruffled. He could not let her remain so. He momentarily suspended his chosen errand and instead he quietly made his way through the shadows towards her. He stopped at a nearby bookshelf, eyed the book carefully, then slowly placed one finger on its hard spine. He pushed so it fell onto the tile floor below, shattering the silence of the entire room with the sound of its fall. Jane jumped at the sound and spilled her coffee down her clean, white shirt. She swore under her breath and swung her head around to find the source of the noise. Not seeing anyone, she mopped up the spill and called out.

"Hello? I can hear your footsteps. Who are you?"

Loki waited till she relaxed again and turned her attention back to her book. He repeated and pushed another book off a shelf. This time, she jumped to her feet to look around her. She could not find him as he hid behind a bookshelf. He let another book fall.

"Ok. That's kinda creepy. Who is that?" she said. She explored the rows of books, seeking her invisible visitor while Loki remained hidden and motionless. She gave a very loud and very satisfying scream when he pushed a book through directly next to her head. With one hand he covered her mouth and whispered in her ear.

"Scream not, Lady Jane, or the guards may hear and decide to come rescue you," he said. He released her and she fell against a bookshelf, a look of such terror on her face that he broke out into laughter.

"It's not funny. You scared me half to death," she said, now with anger in her voice. "Don't you have anything better to do than torment me?"

"No. Not really," he said. "What would you wish for me to do instead?"

"I don't know. Something that doesn't involve humiliating me or scaring me or exasperating me," she said.

"Then it would not be entertainment," he said, pulling himself to his full height so he could loom over the top of her head. He pulled another book from the shelf and it tumbled down, narrowly missing Jane's shoulder as it fell.

"Seriously?" she said. "If I ignore you, will you go away?"

"Possibly. Or that could make me try harder. I always feel compelled to answer any challenge."

"What do you want, Loki?" she said, now with resignation in her voice. She picked up the book from the floor where it had fallen and placed it back on the shelf. Then she met his gaze.

"I came to find a book but since I find you here, I have decided I will ask you questions instead," he said.

"And if I decide I don't want to play along?" she said.

"Oh, but don't you wish to know the answers to the questions I might ask?"

"No," she said and then winced. "Fine. A little. But I would rather not be made fun of in the process."

"Ah, but then you drain the sport out of the game! You fluster so deliciously well!"

"I'm not playing," she said. She resolutely left him between the bookshelves and returned to her window seat.

So, she would be melancholy and terse and refuse to rise to his bait? He could not allow it. However, he did not mind the challenge either. He followed her and sat on a chair beside her. She picked up her book and began to read, ignoring him completely, which he could not abide. He smirked slightly and began to tap his fingers on the wood of his chair arm in a rhythm he had long since perfected during his boyhood quests to annoy Thor. With just the correct amount of whistling under his breath, he predicted within two minutes, she would be exasperated once more.

One minute and forty five seconds later, he heard her sigh.

"Loki, quit it," she said.

"Quit what?"

"Whatever you are doing. Just stop."

"As you wish," he said and paused his movement (for the moment). "What are you reading?"

"A book."

"Aha! Thank you for clearing that up!" he said with an exaggerated flourish. "Now all my questions have been answered! The lady reads a book! Of all the myriad of things I thought she could be reading, now I know. She reads a book."

"Have you always been this annoying?"

"How else does the 'God of Mischief and Chaos' earn his title? I will give you a hint-it is not through reading books…except on occasion…when Thor wished me to pay heed to him and I instead planted my eyes firmly on a book in order to irritate him, much as you are attempting here." He gave her a glance and felt a slight victory in knowing he had her attention. He was determined to be the final conqueror and make sure she forgot her book entirely. "Or there was a time…I placed a spell on the head cook's cookbook and turned every entry that asked for milk into mead and every line that required butter into jam. It proved quite the feast for the delegates that came from Nidavellir."

He smirked in triumph when he saw Jane put the book down on her lap and stare at him with her curiosity piqued.

"Nidavellir?" she asked. "Is that another realm?"

"Indeed. It is the realm where the dwarves dwell."

"Dwarves? Like the short, little people?"

"The Mountain dwarves, yes. They would barely reach your waist. The Moon dwarves, no. They rival the height of the elephants in Wakanda."

"Tall dwarves? I didn't know there was such a thing. I mean, to be fair, I didn't know dwarves really were a thing at all. Have you been there? To Nidavellir, I mean?" she asked.

"Of course. They are the finest metal workers and arms forgers in all the Nine. I have traveled there many times for diplomatic relations, trade deals, and official functions-oh, and the one occasion when I had to prevent all Nidavellir from declaring war against Thor and demanding his head on a pike."

"What happened?" Jane said. She placed her book down on the window seat and leaned towards him in rapt attention.

"Oh, I'm sure that tale has little that would interest you. Return to your book, Lady Jane. You have my apologies for intruding on your solitude," he said and he watched in glee as she started and glared at him.

"Oh, no. You are not going to say something like that and not tell me the story. Come on!" she pleaded.

"Hmmm. Perhaps…on condition you answer my questions after."

"Fine."

He grinned and leaned back in his chair. "Once many, many years past, Asgard received a delegation from Nidavellir for a treaty negotiation. When the treaty was successfully signed, great revels were held in Asgard. During the feast, the dwarves toasted to the glory of their queens, which no Aesir has ever laid eyes upon. Many questions were asked about the queens.

"Thor, deep into his cups, boasted in a drunken rant that he would take a dwarven queen as wife.

'Aesir cannot manage a dwarven queen,' the dwarves said, much offended by his declaration.

"Thor took this as an accusation against his virility and a dare to accomplish it. He boasted he would storm Nidavellir the next day to take one of their queens. To the dwarves, this was, in essence, a declaration of war. It took three months of negotiations to prevent a full-scale war and convince the delegation it was only a jest, and a poor one at that. I thought the All-Mother would have all the hairs on her head turn grey in the aftermath of Thor's arrogance that night."

"Why was that such a problem? I mean, if he was only boasting…." She said.

"Ah, it he were only boasting, it could have been remedied easier. Thor was stopped by the All-Father himself on his way to the bifrost as he sought to capture one of their queens that night."

Jane grew thoughtful for a moment before a question played across her face.

"Loki, do you miss your brother," she asked.

"Of course not. Insufferable idiot," he replied with feigned nonchalance.

She raised one eyebrow and crossed her arms across her chest. He sighed.

"Fine. Desperately and utterly," he said.

"That's better," she said.

"I would argue otherwise."

"That's ok. You like arguing."

"I most certainly do not."

"Liar."

"You finally understand me," he replied with a smirk.

She threw her head back and laughed. She played with the cover of her book again and Loki was about to interrupt her thoughts with the line of questions he had for her, when she spoke again.

"So why haven't any of the Aesir seen the dwarf queens?" she asked. "What about their kings?"

"They do not have kings, not in the sense you mean. Each clan of dwarves appoints its smallest drone as primary leader and spokesperson for the clan. Over all the clans, there is a council of elders made up of all the oldest leaders from all the clans of both the Mountain and Moon dwarves and these make decisions for their realm. The queen, while playing a very limited role in the actual decision-making politics of her clan, is still the symbolic leader and her veto outweighs that of their leader, if she chose to use it."

She shook her head slightly as she considered this and warred with which of the myriad of questions she wished to ask next.

"What's a drone?" she finally chose. "And why is the smallest made the leader?"

"Ah, well to answer that I first must explain that all dwarves are born biologically male…," Loki began. Jane gasped and tried to interrupt him with another question. He stopped her with a glare and an imperious wave of his hand.

"As I was saying, all dwarf litters are born biologically male, and all are also born as drones. If, at a mature stage in life, they are allowed to make contact with the queen for an extended period of time, their bodies may become sexually mature and they become what is termed a 'patriarch.' They grow slightly larger and will have a much shorter life span than their drone brothers. The smallest drones are chosen as leaders because it is unlikely they will ever become patriarchs and so they will not be prevented from single-minded leadership during their much longer lifespans."

"Then…wait…you mean there are no biological females except the queens?" Jane asked.

"You are correct. Each dwarf clan lives in colonies of up to two thousand and each has one queen and that is the only biological female in each clan."

"So if they are all born male, where does the queen come from?"

"When one queen dies, the largest of her patriarchs begins to grow even larger and fatter. He loses his beard, his mammary glands mature, and once he is in heat, he is declared a 'she' and made the new queen. They have an official coronation ceremony and her first patriarchs are chosen. She gathers a new set of patriarchs around her every ten years or so, once her old batch has passed away and there is a break in the reproductive cycle for the next age set of dwarf litters."

"Litters…you mean?"

"Typically dwarf queens give birth to between eight and twelve young at a time and they produce a new litter every year. After fifty years or so, dwarf queens typically die off and a new queen rises to prominence."

"Wait-doesn't that mean the queen is related to all her patriarchs?"

"Not necessarily. The drones can live up to five hundred years if they never become elevated to the honored role of patriarchs. The lifespan of the queens compared to that of the patriarchs is such that it provides enough genetic diversity to prevent incest."

"That is really weird," Jane said and gave an incredulous half-smile.

"Oh, I haven't even told you about Muspelheim yet…," Loki said in a teasing tone and winked at her. "There, the Fire Giants lay eggs."

"What!?" Jane gasped.

"I speak truth! I, myself, have two nephews from a daughter of Muspel. I was present at their hatching."

"Ok. That's crazy…hold up here. Nephews? From your brother? Are you telling me Thor has children?"

"Of course. Though these particular ones were his bastard sons by a maid he never wed. The All-Father was not pleased, of course. Thor nearly caused a war with Alfheim with his shameless flaunting of the proper order of things."

"Is this a theme in your stories about Thor?"

Loki pursed his lips as if in deep concentration. "Hmmm….Thor does something reckless…nearly starts a war….and his younger brother must come to the rescue? Why, yes. You would be correct."

"Fine. So, what happened with Alfheim and Thor's children?"

"Ah, yes. That was early on in the dawn of our manhood. Thor's wife, at the time, was a Light Elf maid from Alfheim. And while she could not bear Thor children, the Light Elves have a high value for fidelity to one's mate, even without a mate bond. It was a deep, grievous shame upon the Princess Nana to be so embarrassed by her husband's antics with another woman. Her brothers declared they would defend her honor and it took the extensive efforts of both the kind-hearted Nana and my silver tongue to prevent a full-scale war to break out between realms.

"Thor found humor in the entire situation, much to the exasperation of the All-Father and All-Mother. His hatchlings stayed in Asgard for a time when they came to adulthood and could bear the differing climate."

"And his sons couldn't be made to be legitimate?"

"No. It is a great shame for a warrior to bear children with a maid he has not bested in battle. It is only cold-hearted curs, the worst of cowards, who would not formally display their prowess in battle and their capacity to protect their wife by defeating her in the formal battle ring before all Asgard. If a man does not undergo the ritual Harvest Season Battles for a maid, even one hailing from another realm, Asgard will assume it is because the maid did not wish to share her bed with him and so her honor must be avenged. While the other realms may not understand the importance of the Harvest Season and so do not follow our customs, it is a great dishonor for the children of such unions to come to Asgard-and it bodes ill for the warrior.

"Thor excused himself by saying his Fire Giant lover had bested him in battle and had taken him as husband, according to their custom. Of course, this was absurd as that is not the custom on Muspelheim, and was only a flimsy excuse to explain away his curiosity. It is not often an Aesir or Vanir can survive such a union unscathed. Thor sought to prove his honor and valor and his children, he said, were such proof.

"When Thor's elven wife joined her ancestors, we thought he would take Jarnsaxa as wife, but he never did. I suspect she refused him because the Fire Giants despise life on the cooler realms. The Muspel maid also proved to be of a rebellious heart, seeking her own honor through bearing the sons of the heir of the Nine. She was little interested in exchanging her position in the house of Surtur for that of Odin, but remained content in the gifts of finely crafted uru weapons Thor sent her till her sons were of age.

"The house of Nana's kin in Alfheim never quite forgave him and used any excuse to try to attack him. He avoided Alfheim ever since."

"Ummm. Wow."

Loki saw from Jane's expression that she would pummel him with follow up questions until the sun set and rose again. He decided it best to ask her his own questions so he cleared his throat at sat a little straighter in his chair.

"Now, I believe I have upheld my portion of our bargain, Lady Jane. Would you permit me to test your newfound gifts?" he said.

"Yeah. Ok," she said with a tone of resignation.

"Very well. Lady Jane, I will make a statement and you will determine if what I say aligns with truth."

She nodded her assent.

"I ate passion fruit for breakfast," Loki began.

She nodded.

"I ate eggs for breakfast."

She shook her head.

"Very good. Tomorrow I will eat eggs for breakfast." He watched her face intently as she failed to respond at first.

"I am not a fortune-teller," she answered. "How am I supposed to tell you what will happen tomorrow?"

"Interesting. I traveled to Brazil five days previous."

She slowly nodded.

"I wish to travel to New York today," he said.

She shrugged.

"What are you communicating with that motion?" he asked.

"Just what it looked like. You are ambivalent to the idea of travelling to New York today. Loki-do all these questions have a point?"

"Humor me. I was born on Alfheim," he said.

"No, you were not."

"Fine. I was born on Asgard," he said with a smirk.

"No," she said.

"I was born on Muspelheim," he said.

"Wrong again. Are you going to go through every planet you know of till I get it right?"

"Of course not," he said. "You would not live long enough for that."

"Hah, hah."

"Fine. My biological father was Laufey, King of Jotunheim," he said through a forced impassivity.

She nodded slowly.

"My biological mother was Farbauti, Queen of Jotunheim," he said in earnest now.

"No, Loki," she said.

"My mother was of Jotunheim," he pressed.

Jane shook her head. His posture immediately went rigid and he inhaled sharply.

"You are absurd. You must be misinterpreting something. Of course, if I was sired by Laufey, I was born on Jotunheim to a woman of that realm."

"Hey! Don't get upset with me!" she shot back. "If you are going to get mad at me when my answers don't correspond with your perception of reality, then I think you should stop asking questions."

Loki's mask fell and his face grew serious and incredulous. He reached toward her and took her hand in his, even as she moved farther away from him and glanced towards the door. "Stay, please," he begged. "This is vitally important."

"Why is this so important to you?" she asked.

"The Aesir tell a story. I have heard it told to me since I was a small boy. It is the tale of two brothers, womb-mates, born of an ancient king," Loki responded. "Baldur the Beautiful, they called the first, for he was all golden light, sunshine, and all that is good in the world. His twin, Hoder the Blind, they called the second, for he was all darkness, frost, and ice. The God of Light and the God of Darkness, the God of Summer and the God of Winter, both forever intertwined as the serpent that chases its own tail and sinks its teeth in to form an unbreakable circle.

"The first, he could not help but be loved by all the Aesir. The second son was viewed as a necessary evil and scorned by the Aesir. The first, he thought himself invincible, and boasted that none could pierce his flesh. The second proved him wrong. Blinded by anger, jealousy, and hurt, the second accidentally pierced him through the heart. Vengeance surely followed thereafter, ending Hoder's life as well.

"Legends say that after the sun sets on the Aesir, after Ragnarok-the Twilight of the Gods, Baldur and Hoder will be reborn to rule together, intertwined, and in true unity.

"Is it not fitting that Asgard's Golden Prince should be felled by the Frost Giant Prince? Pierced through the heart with what was never meant to be a weapon, compelled by dark magic that ensured the Invincible One was felled by a mortal twig. Can one ever fail to fulfill their fate? The Aesir and the Jotnar, we have always been sworn enemies, for as long as I can remember. Whether I wish it or no, I was fated to be the destruction of all that is good and the death of my brother."

"Loki…," Jane began, but she trailed off when his formerly eloquent face grew hard.

"I was born on Svartalfheim," he resumed. He released her hand and sat back in his seat again.

She sighed and shook her head.

"I was born on Midgard," he said with a dismissive eye roll.

Jane stared at him for a moment, longer than she had in answering any other question. "Loki, you were born on Midgard. How is that possible?"

His teasing expression fell and he grew an incredulous look on his face.

"You jest, milady. It is impossible."

"Why is it impossible? Didn't you say that the Frost Giants came to Earth and tried to conquer it for a bit? When was that?"

"Yes. The Great Ice War-Asgard came to Midgard's defense to save your pitiful realm from annihilation," he said. "That was about 965 of the Common Era in your reckoning."

"Loki, when were you born?"

"No, Jane, it isn't possible."

"Fine. If it's not possible, then quit asking me questions you don't want to know the answers to."

"Odin sired a daughter," he said.

She nodded. He gave a sharp intake of breath.

"And the daughter still lives," he said.

Jane nodded again.

"I believe, Lady Jane, that I will resume the task which originally brought me to this hallowed hall of learning. If you will excuse me," he said and he stood with a determined flourish. He failed to hear her parting remarks or respond in kind, so set was he upon discovering more answers.

Author's Notes:

I am going with the MCU timeline of 965 CE-though that time frame doesn't really make sense world history-wise. It'd make more sense to bring Loki and Thor's births back by at least a thousand years. Oh well.